There was a bomb blast at a Bali nightclub at Kuta last night. My parents are in Bali at the moment, and I can't get any information. I'm kinda freakin out!

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapc...ast/index.html

Well the story certainly doesnt make it look good does it? I hope your parents are allright. [img]smile.gif[/img] How long have you been trying to contact them?

Oh that's terrible Trickster! :( I hope they are OK!!! :(

OK, I just heard from them! They are OK.

I am very relieved!

[ 10-12-2002, 08:51 PM: Message edited by: The Trickster ]

Mate, I just saw the news. That's shocking, I really hope they're ok. Will be praying for you and them.

Just saw your post. Fantastic, you must be so relieved! Are they getting out of there asap?

Alright! Glad to hear the news Trickster [img]smile.gif[/img]

*Lets out a great sigh of relief* ;)
Just remember to remind your parents of this if they ever plan to go to another country without you. :D

wow I'm glad to hear that they're safe... did they hear or see anything of the blast? They might get on CNN before heading out [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I was so glad to see this post!
I am glad they are OK!

Thanks everyone for your concern. It's been quite a morning not knowing what was going on. It seems the explosion has killed more than 100 "westerners" and is more than likely linked to the al-Qaeda!

What's going on. On one side of the world we've got a sniper going around blowing people's head off whenever he feels like it, and over this side, we've got people blowing up a night club that's filled with people.

Man, this world is getting weirder by the day!

Looks like the sniper has struck again. Here's hoping someone will recognise the white van they're flashing over the news and catch the bastard.

As for the bombs in Bali, Quantas are laying on extra flights so they can handle the people wanting to get out of there. 150 dead was the last count I heard with the majority of them being Australian. The suspects have already been traced to radical Muslim fundamentalists that have links to Al Queda. :(

OMG that is great news Ben!!!!

its always the same... 'the bomb blast killed 40 or so australians' . so its good to see that australian casualties are more important than others :rolleyes: .... also i watched the news this morning... the death toll is now 180 :(

We're all glad that your parents are ok [img]smile.gif[/img]

Oh and meladril welcome to escape forums [img]graemlins/wavey.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img]

I don't know the exact quote of which news source you are so upset about, but havng checked all posts and links in this topic, the only one that seems to fit our outburst of angst is where Downer was aked how many Australian casualties there were. Do you have a problem in that instance with an answer that quotes Australian statistics??? You will of course point us all to the news item or post that incensed you so - won't you - otherwise I won't know if I have misjudged you or not. :(

In fact the OZ government has been at pains to ensure it is not painted locally as an attack on Australia, but rather as an attack on Western civilisation and ideals. There are people that see the Kuta attack as an indication of punishment for OZ supporting Bush, and those same people are issuing calls for Australia to back away from supporting the American stance on Saddam et al. Johnny and the boys are still 100% behind the war on terrorism though, and so they should be.

Death toll soars in Bali blast

A devastating car bomb blast at a crowded nightclub on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali has killed at least 182 people. Hospital officials estimate that 75% of the dead were foreigners, among them Australians, Britons and Germans, with another 210 people reported injured.
A doctor said many of the bodies brought into hospitals around the island's capital Denpasar were too charred to be identified.
"This is the worst act of terror in Indonesia's history," said the country's police chief General Da'i Bachtiar, although he did not speculate about who might be responsible.
The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, said he feared many Australians were among those killed in what he described as a "huge national tragedy". He condemned the attack as "barbaric, wicked and cowardly".
The Australian air force is flying an emergency medical team to help local hospitals and bring back some of the injured to Australia, Mr Howard said.

Other blasts
The Sari Club in the resort of Kuta was reduced to a heap of smouldering ruins by the blast, which also wrecked nearby discos, restaurants and a hotel.
Cars and motorbikes parked outside the club became a wall of flame, blocking people's escape.
At about the same time another bomb exploded near the American honorary consul in Denpasar, although no-one was injured.
The blasts in Bali came just hours after a small hand-made bomb went off near the Philippine Consulate in the port city of Manado on the central island of Sulawesi, about 2,160km (1,350 miles) north-east of Jakarta.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but officials have now said that it was a terrorist attack.
Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was "almost certain" that it was terrorist attack.
And Prime Minister Howard said "the war against terrorism must go on with unrelenting vigour and with an unconditional commitment".

Building ablaze
The explosion reportedly occurred at 2330 (1530GMT) on Saturday outside the Sari Club, a nightspot popular with Western tourists in Kuta.
The area was crowded with people out on a Saturday evening.
The blast set the thatched roof and wooden walls of the nightclub on fire. The blaze spread to a second bar opposite and flames raged for several hours.
General Bachtiar said the explosion had left a deep crater in the ground.
Bali is a popular holiday resort with western tourists.
British tourist Matt Noyce, from London, was in the bar of the Sari Club when the blast occurred.
"There was just complete panic in the bar with lots of people diving to the door trying to scramble over each other," he told the BBC.
"Outside it was awful, it was like a scene you'd see from Vietnam. There were bodies everywhere."
Mr Noyce, who helped move the severely injured away from the fires which started after the explosion, said the street had been busy with tourists and locals.
Another eyewitness, French photographer Cyril Terrien, said he had "never seen such an appalling thing".
"There are charred and mangled bodies everywhere, it is unbelievable," he added.
Some tourists fled their hotels and camped out on local beaches.
Many are now starting to leave the resort.
"I am going to the airport, I want to take the first flight out," said Karim Ansel, a Parisian tourist.

Embassy worries
The US embassy in Jakarta has issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that its nationals could be targeted by Islamic militants linked to the al-Qaeda terror group.
The embassy itself closed for several days last month after intelligence reports indicated militant groups were planning car bomb attacks.
Indonesian officials have in the past denied that militants linked to al-Qaeda are active in the country.
However, authorities in Malaysia and Singapore have claimed that members of a group known as Jemaah Islamiyah - said to be seeking to set up an Islamic state in South East Asia - are based in Indonesia.

Source: BBC

I don't know the exact quote of which news source you are so upset about, but havng checked all posts and links in this topic, the only one that seems to fit our outburst of angst is where Downer was aked how many Australian casualties there were. Do you have a problem in that instance with an answer that quotes Australian statistics??? You will of course point us all to the news item or post that incensed you so - won't you - otherwise I won't know if I have misjudged you or not. :(

In fact the OZ government has been at pains to ensure it is not painted locally as an attack on Australia, but rather as an attack on Western civilisation and ideals. There are people that see the Kuta attack as an indication of punishment for OZ supporting Bush, and those same people are issuing calls for Australia to back away from supporting the American stance on Saddam et al. Johnny and the boys are still 100% behind the war on terrorism though, and so they should be.</font>[/QUOTE]the news this morning is where i saw this- thatis the bbc news. and for the record i am [i] not [\i] supporting the 'war' on terrorism. the point i am trying to make is that when a country reports on a thing like this, the first thing they say is (in the case of the bbc news) 'a bomb blast in bali killed has killed one english person' then they go on to say that 180 people have been killed. furthermore i can hardly quote a telivision article can i?

cheers!

I knew exactly what point you were making - you have to understand the context of who is reporting, and to whom. Australians know that 182 people died - Australians heavily frequent the night clubs of Kuta beach - Australian audiences have a great reason to be concerned about fatalities. The report on the Beeb could well have heavily originated from ABC footage. Looking at my local news tonight, the stations focus has been on all the fatalities / bombings first, then discussions of local impact, then talk on the terrorism element.

I have not seen ANYTHING, even in my local reporting, that suggests any Australian is more important than any of the 182. Hence the degree to which I take offence at your original post.

By the way - welcome to the forum - one disagreement is no cause for me to forget my manners.

Whew, I am SO glad for you. I can't believe that a car bomb could kill so many people. It's so sad. This planet is falling apart--well, should I say humanity is. :(

I'm glad your parents are ok! [img]smile.gif[/img]

When are they coming back to Australia?

Whew, I am SO glad for you. I can't believe that a car bomb could kill so many people. It's so sad. This planet is falling apart--well, should I say humanity is. :( </font>[/QUOTE]Sadly enough if we continue on with this both my fall apart. If only religion hadnt been so abused that most people now stay away from it... either that or they abuse it even more. What a sad world this has become... :(

The latest TV report still states 182 dead.
No indication yet of how many of each nationality was involved. Every one is still cagey about sheeting home the blame but Indonesia has stated that it believes that it was the work of internal Islamic militant group(s) with links to AQ.
We shall see which way the Indonesian authorities tackle the problem, go for a crackdown or an attempted cover-up.

thanks again :D

My parents have just called me, and they're leaving Bali at 11:00pm tonight (in 3 hours). I'm picking them up in the morning.

Man, that casualties figure just keeps on going up! Now it's close to 200, when it started at 24 this morning!

This has all hit home to me just how close we all are to this. Even us Australians who believe we can hide over the other side of the world. It's most upsetting.

Whew, I am SO glad for you. I can't believe that a car bomb could kill so many people. It's so sad. This planet is falling apart--well, should I say humanity is. :( </font>[/QUOTE]Sadly enough if we continue on with this both my fall apart. If only religion hadnt been so abused that most people now stay away from it... either that or they abuse it even more. What a sad world this has become... :( </font>[/QUOTE]its odd because bali is hardly a hotbed of violence.. it was ment to be one of the most stable areas in indonesia :(

Meladril, your location says "Faerun" - are you in Australia or in the UK when you watched the BBC news report? It's not unusual for a country to emphasise its nationals, or that of a country with close links to it, when reporting the news. I don't think this is intended to mean that Australians are more important than others, but rather because the intended audience may contain a number of Australians. I know equality's important and all, but sometimes we need to take what we see with a dose of perspective. ;)

Well I know for a fact that Faerun sees Australian's as extremely important, as I (being an Australian) have saved the land many times! [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

yeah!!!

Just read this thread...I'm happy your parents are safe...and saddened to hear of those who died.
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Mark

[ 10-13-2002, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: skywalker ]

Great to see your parents are OK, Trickster. When I saw the news on TV, I couldn't help but feel very unsettled. I think the (pseudo) protective bubble around our country, which we believed protected us from terrorism, has now burst, or is very close to rupturing.

<font color=skyblue>I have just now caught up with the news this weekend and then found this thread. I am relieved to see that everything is okay from an <s>Ironworks</s> Escape Gaming stand-point.

I hope the terrorists will soon be put on such a run to hide that they will not have time to think up this kinda shit. I have a dear friend from Australia and I need to try and get hold of him soon to put my nerves at peace.</font>

Wow, Tricks, thank god they're okay. I had a situation like that when my dad was in New York, working for some people who worked at the World Trade Center when it got bombed the first time. Thank god he wasn't there at the time.

Now you have to give 'em a big hug. ;)

[ 10-13-2002, 09:58 PM: Message edited by: True_Moose ]

The death toll from the Bali nightclub bombings -- now up to 187 -- is expected to continue to rise. Authorities say there are more than 200 people missing - CNN

This is so sad :( What is the world becoming?

I'm glad to hear your parents are ok [img]smile.gif[/img]

Make that 200 kiwis unaccounted for. Hopefully most of these will have flown home or something and will contact someone. 220 Australians remain unaccounted for.

click for more info

Man, these numbers just keep getting bigger. :(

Just read this, so glad they are okey Tricky...
What kind of f...ed up human being does this?

"Lets blow up those innocent people there, having fun at a club..."

Psychos

Trickster, I am very relieved to hear your parents are OK. I hope no one on this Board has relatives or friends among the victims ...

Man is more than ever capable of the best and the worst. :(

[ 10-14-2002, 05:25 AM: Message edited by: Moiraine ]